The present invention relates generally to electronic brake controllers or values and more specifically to an electronic brake controller with a selectable display.
In computer controlled railway brake equipment, desired braking actions come from a manual brake stand having an automatic brake and an independent brake handle. These mechanical movements are converted to electrical signals and provided to a microcomputer. The microcomputer controls the train pipelines and reservoirs using an electropneumatic brake interface system. A screen is provided in the cabin to let the operator know various information throughout the train. Typically, the displayed information is the pressure at the main reservoir, equalization reservoir, brake pipe, brake pipe at the end of train and the brake cylinder. An example of a computer controlled railway brake equipment is the CCB system available from New York Air Brake Corporation which is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,316 which is incorporated herein by reference. An example of the display screen is in FIG. 4 of the '316 patent.
The provision of a screen or display at the electric brake controller valve is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,911 which is incorporated here by reference. A controller in the housing determines the position of the operators and provides operator position signals at its output and drives the display to display the desired braking action as a function of the determined position of the operators. Additional information provided to the controller may also be displayed. Switch positions can be checked to determine whether the handle has failed. Failure or other faults may be logged in an event or fault summary.
Electronic brake controller valve including a keyboard to transmit information to a remote cab control central processing unit is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,465. The key pad is used to select operations in a setup screen and then to display information in a run time screen or menu. The screen and new information are remote from the controller and the electronic brake controller valve.
The present disclosure is directed to an electronic brake controller for an electropneumatic brake system including a housing; at lease one brake operator mounted to said housing and whose positions define desired brake action; a display on said housing; a signal output on the housing; and a multiple position switch on the housing. A controller in said housing determines the position of the operator and the multiple position switch, provides one of operator position signals and desired brake action to the output and drives the display to display desired braking action as a function of the determined position of the operator for acceptable operator positions, and drives the display with a brake system variable and adjusts the variable as a function of the position of the multiple position switch for don't care operator positions.
The controller may also provide output signals of the system variable to the output as a function of the position of the multiple position switch for don't care operator positions. The multiple position switch may be a feed valve switch and/or a locomotive mode switch.
The multiple position switch may be a feed valve switch having a neutral, increase and decrease positions. The controller drives the display to display a target feed valve value and provides the target feed valve value to the output as a function of the position of the feed valve switch when the brake operator is in an release position. The controller drives the display to display an other brake system target value and provides the other target value to the output as a function of the position of the feed valve switch when the brake operator is in don't care operator positions.
The multiple position switch may be a locomotive mode switch having at least an in and out position, but may have a lead, trail and lead out positions or other combinations of operational modes. The controller provides the mode switch position to the output as a function of the position of the mode switch when the brake operator is in an acceptable position. The controller drives the display to display an other brake system target value and provides the other target value to the output as a function of the position of the mode switch when the brake operator is in don't care operator positions.
The electronic brake controller may include a two position switch. The controller changes the type of system variable displayed as a function of the position of the two position switch and adjusts the system variable as a function of the position of the multiple position switch. The system variable may be a multi digit number; and the controller sequences through the digit in response to the two position switch and adjust the digit in response to the multiple position switch.
The controller may display a list of electrical devices in the housing and selects an electrical device whose one of state and output value is to be displayed as a function of the position of the multiple position switch. The controller adjusts the one of the state and value of the output of the selected electrical device as a function of the position of the multiple position switch.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.